Repeat
by Lucy Labrador
Summary: Post Sonic Adventure 2. Shadow sets out to fulfil Maria's wish but can't help but feel he's done it all before.
1. Chapter 1

Shadow opened his eyes. His mind was blank and he felt clueless. He had no idea who he was and where he was for a few moments, until he came back to his senses. He looked straight, only to see nothing but several shades of green. Leaves waved in the wind above him, and the sun shone through the gaps between them. The beams of light hit Shadow's face, sparkling across his black fur and tanned muzzle. The hedgehog squinted his eyes as his vision temporarily blurred, and all of the shades of green blended together. He looked to his side as his vision focused, to see a floor of grass and a horizon moss stained tree trunks.

The dark hedgehog sat up stiffly and looked around to see that he was surrounded by trees. But that still didn't answer all of his questions. With a baffled look on his face, he stood up and looked around at his surroundings. It looked familiar to him for some reason, but couldn't quite place why. Suddenly he put his hands to his head and closed his eyes in pain, letting out a grunt of pain in the process. Then he opened his eyes and looked ahead of him again in realisation.

"This is where the humans captured me after…" Shadow mumbled to himself slowly, but then changed his tone to hurried and urgent one. "Maria!" He brought his hands back up to his head and tugged at his quills, then bent over in a wave of agony. Then he straightened back up and began to yell. "I will avenge you, Maria! Just like a promised you!"

Using his skates, he ran forward as fast as he could. Then he began talking to himself as he pushed himself ahead.

"Those humans must have discarded me from their prison. I could have sworn they threw me into suspended animation," he pondered. "They're all foolish to think that I would be dead after-"

He skidded to a halt as he he saw a path of destruction ahead. Although the path was more like a wall, or an island itself. All buildings and structures were collapsed; some of it was burning.

"What happened to the island?" Shadow said and swallowed, then managed to breath out another sentence. "How was I spared?" Then he shook his head quickly as he tried to dismiss it. "This small scale destruction won't matter when I'm done with this cursed planet," he spat, then turned and ran the other way to find a way off of the island.

A while later, Shadow ran down some city streets. He stopped to look at the bright lights in the shop windows. The sun had set and the area was devoid of most humans. Once Shadow came to a halt, he couldn't ignore the feeling that he'd been here before, or that he'd seen something like that place.

"This is nothing like the photos of the earth that I saw before," Shadow said to himself. "But I can't help but think that I've been here before." The hedgehog thought to himself very hard, staying still and quiet for a few moments. "But I couldn't have. I was sent straight to prison island after I escaped the ARK… there's no way I've been here before." He turned around on the spot and took another look at the area. "I don't think I was in suspended animation for a very short period of time…" His eyes widened in shock. "Everything looks like it's the future."

Shadow didn't want to think about it any longer. He shot forward, skating his shoes as fast as he could. There was a strong look of determination on his face, his eyes narrowed and mouth straightened, almost frowning. He turned corners and avoided vehicles on the road as he crossed them. He raised his hand a few times to destroy them with chaos spears, but lowered it again each time as he bit his tongue.

"I must hold back and stay low. I don't want GUN to find out that I'm still alive," the hedgehog said through his gritted teeth. "As much as these humans deserve it."

After a few more minutes of running, Shadow found a large paved area. It was dimly lit and wider than most of the roads in the area, so there was plenty of room for cars and people, but it was empty. The hedgehog came to a stop, as he felt his headache return.

"Something doesn't feel right about this place," he said quietly to himself as he groaned and held his head where he felt as if his skull would split. "It's like something happened here before… but I've never been here."

Shadow took a few moments of silence to try and get rid of his headache. His headache died down and he was about to leave when he heard a voice nearby. It slowly got louder, as if someone was moving closer.

"I can't believe that not so long ago, I met him here, and now he's gone."

Shadow's ear twitched, and he got into a protective stance. The voice sounded foreign to him, it didn't sound like anyone he'd met before. The voice got a little louder and it's owner showed himself.

"We fought over there," said a blue hedgehog. It pointed over to where Shadow was standing. Shadow looked at him ominously, how dare this stranger point to where he was standing and pay no attention to his presence. "Wait, Shadow!?" Shadow felt himself jump inside; how did the stranger know his name? "You're alive!" the stranger continued to shout. He ran over to Shadow. The dark hedgehog dodged out of the way of this stranger, so the blue hedgehog just ran straight past him.

"I don't know who you are, but you got the wrong hedgehog. I'm not the Shadow you know," Shadow yelled. "I've never even met you!"

Sonic skidded to a halt and turned to look at Shadow confusedly; there was also a strong hint of disappointment on his face.

"But, you look and sound just like the Shadow we know," came another voice. Shadow looked to a small fox that walked up to him and the blue hedgehog.

"What a coincidence, but I've never met you, so I'm not the Shadow you know," Shadow said confidently and firmly. "So leave me alone." He began walking away from the strange pair.

"Wait!" the blue hedgehog yelled. He ran back up to Shadow and grabbed his wrist. "This is missing! You lost it when-"

Shadow hit the blue hedgehog with his free arm and he went flying against the wall of a building. Shadow pulled his arm out in front of him, it looked as if he was looking at a wrist watch. His eyes widened when he realised that the inhibitor ring was gone! He looked back at the blue hedgehog in anger. The fox boy was standing over him with a look of distress.

"Sonic!" the youth yelled and shook his limp body.

Shadow gasped and held his head in pain again. He was bent over slightly as he groaned in pain and stepped forward, almost stumbling over in the process.

"S-Sonic?" he mumbled to himself. He walked away as fast as he could to get away from the pair. Their presence alone was giving him migraines all of a sudden. The ultimate life form couldn't take it. "Must… forget about those pathetic creatures and… complete Maria's revenge."

"Shadow!"

Shadow turned around at the sound of the blue hedgehog's voice. He opened one eye slightly so he could look at him. The blue hedgehog had stood and started walking towards him. Looking at his green eyes hurt Shadow's head even more.

"Get away from me!" Shadow yelled aggressively then turned back around again to leave. Sonic ran over to him with his arms out, it looked as if he would try to grab Shadow. So, the black hedgehog ran to the side while he still had his hands on his head, to try to avoid his grasp.

Then, Shadow felt a shiver go down his spine. He took his hands from his head as his headache left. Then he looked at Sonic as if he'd come to a realisation. The dark one continued to stare at the hedgehog, his eyes narrowed more and more each second.

"What?" Sonic asked, stepped back. Suddenly, Shadow leapt and tackled Sonic to the before because the blue hedgehog could react. The dark one pushed his victim's face down onto the floor, stood one foot on one of his victim's arm, and one foot on his legs. The blue hedgehog let out muffled yells and struggled as hard as he could, but he was thoroughly stuck. Shadow bent down to grab something, but the fox flew over to stop him. Shadow put out his fist at full speed, knocking the young one back in the process. He yelped and skidded across the floor.

"A flying fox, that was unexpected…" Shadow mumbled, then looked down at Sonic emotionlessly. Then he reached for Sonic's waist, and pulled out a shiny object and pocketed it. He pulled out two more identical objects, but they were all different colours. Then he jumped off of Sonic and ran to a safe distance.

"The emeralds!" Tails yelled. Sonic took a while to come to his senses after having his face pushed against the floor. He stood up and looked at Shadow anxiously.

"You showed weakness because you thought I was a friend," Shadow said triumphantly. "Now I'm off to find the rest. I suggest you don't try to stop me." The ultimate life form shot off into the distance. He looked back to find that Sonic was running after him, with his fox friend closely behind, propelling his two tails.

Shadow felt a surge of power go through him, something that also felt new, but familiar at the same time. He looked behind him to see that the two of his chasers were still keeping up.

"Damn! What are the chances of finding someone who looks like me, and can run as fast as me?" Shadow grumbled to himself. "It's time to get rid of him." He turned his waist as he turned and channelled the new energy inside of him to his arms and hands, then sent an energy projectile backwards, yelling its name in the process. "Chaos spear!"

The two of them managed to dodge. Shadow grit his teeth and ran ahead as fast as he could. He was sure that they wouldn't keep up. The two tailed fox seemed to be falling behind, but the hedgehog he'd heard being called 'Sonic', still kept up. Sonic even managed to close the gap between them. Shadow growled in frustration, feeling the situation wasn't going to be resolved via running. He got out one of the emeralds as he continued to run as fast as he could.

"Shadow, don't you dare!" Sonic yelled. Shadow ignored him.

"Chaos Control!" Shadow yelled, there was a flash of light and he was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

Shadow opened his eyes to see a new set of surroundings. They were different from the last one he'd opened his eyes to. Instead of natural and green, they were artificial and metallic. It was dimly lit by a shining blue earth in the window behind him. There were a few machines and a window on the floor. This setting were certainly a lot more familiar to him than all of the other ones he had seen that day. He closed his eyes again, took in a deep breath, then breathed out a deep sigh.

"Soon, Maria," he said solemnly, then opened his eyes and began to walk out of the room and down the corridor towards the eclipse cannon room. He felt shivers go down his spine as he treaded through the long corridors. His breaths echoed against the walls along with the sounds of his footsteps. The hedgehog felt his stomach twist and his eyes sting. The memories his days with Maria and Gerald on the ARK flooded back. Shadow remembered them as the best days of his life, although the only life he had after that was the short period of time he spent between escaping and getting put into suspended animation.

He soon reached the eclipse cannon control room. It was lit up, and the center held a large machine with a large screen and panels to type on. More importantly, it held the spaces that the chaos emeralds would go in.

"I'd better power this thing up," he said as he walked into the room, then he stopped in his tracks when he saw it. "What?" The canon already seemed to have been activated. The machine wasn't as still and silent as he imagined it would be. "Someone's been here…" he growled then ran up to the control panels in the center. "Those humans have been interfering here, I know it!" He slammed his fist down on the large surface that the held the controls. He accidently pressed one of the keys on the board and the screen turned on. The computer took no time to start up, it had also already been activated. He grit his teeth when he saw what was on the screen: it was a news article about 'Project SHADOW.' "Someone's been snooping around!"

Shadow turned around and grit his teeth even harder in frustration. "They've ruined my plan!" he yelled in anger. "I swear, if they've changed the programming or removed any of the commands Gerald put on here, they're going to feel my bare hands on their throat!" The ultimate life form was furious, but he knew that wouldn't help his situation. He stood silently for a few minutes, his breathing went from quick and aggravated, so slower and calmer within a few moments. Then he slowly turned back around and looked up at the emerald shaped slots in the machine.

"Okay," he said with a sigh. He took out his three emeralds then walked a lot closer. He threw two of them into their respective slots one by one then watched the burst of energy escape from the machine. "I'm basically half way there," he noted to himself. "Thanks to that blue hedgehog. Hmm…" he looked as if he was in deep thought. "If he's collected the first three, then chances are, he was going for all seven." A sinister smile crept upon his face. "All I have to do is wait… and he'll collect the rest for me."

Shadow smiled smugly as he walked out of the room with the third emerald in his hand. Then he held out his hand and the emerald shone brighter as he built himself up to yell. "Chaos control!"

He was back on the street where he'd left Sonic and his friend. He looked around for him, he was no where to be seen.

"Good, he's left to find the other emeralds I assume," Shadow said to himself. He then shot off down the street, continuing the search he'd started before.

Several hours later, Shadow found one more, but there was no sign of any others.

"That blue hedgehog must have found them," Shadow said. He smirked. "Now I need to lure him in…" Shadow looked to one side, then to the other, taking notice of his surroundings. They were large, quiet and green. There was a large surface of grass and a few plants. Up ahead there was a hill with an edge to steep to climb, so there were steps there instead. On top of the hill was a small house, with a garage. Shadow ran up to it, smirking as he sensed the emerald's power coming from the building. "What a coincidence…"

He stopped a few meters from the house, and saw the blue hedgehog and the fox leaving through the garage door. Once they caught sight of Shadow, they got into a fighting stance.

"You have the last two emeralds, hand them over," Shadow said and put his hand out, as if he was just expecting them to drop it into his hand.

"Shadow, what are you even doing with them?" Sonic asked firmly. "You'd better not be using the eclipse cannon again."

Shadow felt a wave of shock go through his body.

"How would a pathetic creature such as yourself know about the eclipse cannon?" Shadow asked angrily and pointed at him. "How dare you concern yourself with the sacred ARK!"

"I was up on the ARK not even two days ago," Sonic said. "Don't you remember-"

"How dare you!" Shadow yelled at the top of his voice, not paying any attention to the second part of Sonic's statement. Sonic was silent, he took a step back. "You were the one who meddled with the eclipse cannon! No wonder it was activated! How did you know about the ARK?" Shadow ran over to Sonic, grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. "Answer me!"

Sonic looked at Shadow with an expression that said that the situation was awkward. The blue one didn't say anything, he just gave a clueless look.

"I think the answer will be too hard for you to take," Sonic remarked and kicked Shadow in the stomach. The dark hedgehog skidded across the floor, then stopped, face first on the floor. He pushed his head up from the floor and looked at Sonic with a glare of death.

"Once I'm finished with you, no one will recognise your body!" Shadow snarled. He pushed himself up as if he'd just started a race, then leapt for Sonic. The blue hedgehog dodged to the side, but Shadow saw this coming and turned his waist to punch Sonic in the chest. Shadow succeeded and his fist impacted Sonic's chest square on. The blue hedgehog grunted in pain as he was knocked to the floor. Shadow then turned to the young fox.

"Hand over the emeralds, now," the ultimate life form commanded. "Or I swear you and your friend will suffer!"

The fox froze, looking at Shadow in fear. Then he suddenly turned and ran.

"Tails! No! You can't get away in time!" Sonic yelled, but Tails didn't seem to hear; he continued to run instead. Shadow took half a second to catch up to him, knocked him to the floor in an instant and took the emeralds from him. Tails cried out in pain and fear, but Shadow left him with a mere bruise.

"I didn't expect this pathetic planet to have defenses that could stand up against me a little more than a second," Shadow began to boast. "But-"

He was cut off as he was kicked in the back and smashed to the floor. The dark hedgehog grunted in pain as his face was scraped against the floor again.

"That's it, Shadow! This ends now!" Sonic yelled. Shadow lifted his face from the grass again and grit his teeth at Sonic. The blue hedgehog was standing up again, in a fighting stance. Shadow pushed himself up to the floor in a split second and leapt for his rival yet again. Sonic did the same thing and they knocked into each other. The both of them were knocked back, but returned to combat again immediately. They continued doing this to each other for a few more minutes, trying from different angles and directions each time, but each did no damage.

Then both of them landed on their feet. Shadow looked up, making an evaluation in the process. Sonic wasn't worth it, he thought to himself. He decided that he should just leave that instant and complete the plan. Maria's wish could be fulfilled if he just walked away. But on the other hand, just looking at the blue hedgehog's face made Shadow's blood boil, his interference with Shadow's plan had made the dark hedgehog hungry for revenge on him.

"Just hand over the emeralds, Shadow. It isn't worth it," Sonic said. "I know what you're trying to do."

"What do you know about me!?" Shadow said aggressively, not believing Sonic's claims. "You know nothing about me or my plans!"

"If you'd just listen and stop being so hard headed, maybe you'd understand!" Sonic argued back. "We've been through this before!"

Shadow began to chuckle.

"Oh, I wasn't expecting this!" he said through his laughs. "You're suffering from an instance of Deja Vu. We haven't done this before! I don't know you! Now leave me alone!"

Sonic grit his teeth and growled in frustration. Shadow ignored it and brushed Sonic's words off like they were nothing. He waved a dismissive hand and turned to leave.

"I don't have time for this. Maria is waiting for me," Shadow said and held out one of his emeralds.

"Sonic!" Tails yelled frantically and pointed to the dark hedgehog. Shadow shot a glare at Tails, the young fox was annoying him, and so was Sonic. Their persistence irritated Shadow greatly. His emeralds shone and he yelled his command again. meanwhile, Sonic ran towards Shadow and reached out for him.

"Chaos control!" there was a second's worth of a pause. "UGH!" Sonic had grabbed onto Shadow, and wrapped his arms around him tightly from behind; there was no way Shadow could leave Sonic behind.

Shadow pushed Sonic off of him when they teleported. The two of them were in the eclipse cannon control room. Before Sonic could recover and get up, Shadow shoved the last emeralds inside of their respective slots in a hurry. Sonic got up and ran over to Shadow, tackling him to the ground in the process. But it was too late, all of the emeralds were in the eclipse cannon. Five bursts of energy were let out of the machine. It was done.


	3. Chapter 3

Shadow pushed Sonic off of him, then he stood up and watched the machine, as if he was waiting for something to happen, but nothing at all did. Sonic got up and looked at Shadow anxiously. Shadow's eyes widened in shock, why wasn't his plan working.

"No, this isn't right. The ARK should be plummeting towards the Earth now," Shadow said. He turned to Sonic. "You meddled with the programming, didn't you!?" Shadow's aggression increased tenfold. "You've defiled the ARK and ruined Maria's wish!"

Sonic just looked at Shadow as if the dark hedgehog was insane.

"Shadow, for the last time. You're wrong," Sonic said, a lot more calmly this time. "You've just forgotten. Now take the emeralds out and come back down to the planet. I can explain everything."

"No! I don't care if I'm wrong! Those humans need to be destroyed!" Shadow reached for the activation switched, but Sonic tackled Shadow to the floor once more.

"GAH! No! You don't understand! The planet must be annihilated! Those ungrateful humans only cause their own suffering! It has to end! It's Maria's wish!" Shadow cried out frantically as he tried to push Sonic off of him, but the blue hedgehog kept Shadow firmly on the floor.

"No Shadow! It doesn't work like that! That's not what Maria wanted!" Sonic yelled sternly. "You've already worked this out! Why can't you do it again?"

"You're delusional! I don't even know you! This hasn't happened before!" Shadow exclaimed. He managed to get a hand free. It reached for the panel above, and pressed the button needed to activate the cannon. Sonic gasped in shock, and was distracted by Shadow's distress. Shadow managed to escaped from Sonic's grasp and stand up in triumph.

"Those humans won't experience sadness and suffering and much longer," Shadow said, sounding relieved. Sonic looked truly distressed. He ran out of the room as fast as he could.

"Run as much as you want, hedgehog, you can't do anything to stop this," Shadow said arrogantly. Sonic turned back to looked at Shadow as he ran.

"I can! I'm going to the cannon!" Sonic yelled. Shadow's eyes widened, surely Sonic wouldn't try to sabotage his plan again. The dark hedgehog chased after Sonic, he needed to stop the blue hedgehog before he foiled Shadow's plan yet again.

When Shadow entered the inside of the eclipse cannon, he stopped his tracks and held his head with his hands, a sharp pain went right through it, like before.

"Damn it, Sonic! Your Deja Vu is contagious!" Shadow snarled. Sonic stopped and looked at Shadow.

"Oh, you finally remembering!?" Sonic remarked bitterly.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Shadow snapped.

"You should! And you should start remembering faster so you can help me stop the cannon!" Sonic yelled. Shadow just glared at him. "Do it now, FAKER!"

Shadow's eyes widened as an even sharper pain shot through his skull like a thunderstorm of agony. He gasped, then let out a loud yelp. He collapsed to the floor and closed his eyes.

"F-faker… what's… happening?" Shadow groaned as he opened his eyes and looked up to see that Sonic was gone. "Fine, if you're going to be impatient and leave me behind, then I'll stop the cannon myself."

Shadow turned and ran back to the eclipse cannon control room. He jumped up to the control panel, avoiding the buttons in the process. He frantically pulled the emeralds out of their slots and pocketed them.

"I can't believe what I've done," he mumbled to himself as he ran back to the corridor. "Maria would be so ashamed if she could see me. I need to stop the cannon or… I'll never be able to live with myself." He ran on with a look of determination on his face. He felt an unbearable twinge of sadness and shame flow through him. It made his throat constrict and tears blur his vision. What had he done? "I'm the one who's defiled the ARK and Maria's wish," he said in realisation. "She would be so ashamed of me."

Shadow got back to the eclipse cannon to see Sonic smashing the components bit by bit, but it wasn't good enough, he could never damage the cannon enough before it fired. Shadow braced himself, then began turning into his super form. Sonic stopped and looked at Shadow with a surprised expression on his face.

"Shadow?" he exclaimed. Shadow ignored him and continued turning into his super form. "Shadow, you don't have to do this alone!" Sonic ran over to him. There was a bright and sudden flash, which made Sonic stop and cover his eyes with his arms and hands. When Sonic opened his eyes, he saw that Shadow had turned golden. The ultimate life form was floating a few inches above the ground. "Shadow! Let me help!" Sonic demanded.

Shadow floated towards Sonic slowly, as if he was taking a paced stroll over to him. Sonic held out his hands as if he was ready to receive the power from the chaos emeralds. Shadow got right in front of the blue hedgehog, then he charged forward and pushed Sonic against a wall. Sonic cried out in shock from the sudden attack, then grunted in pain from the impact against the wall.

"Shadow, what are you doing?" Sonic exclaimed as he squirmed to try and get free from Shadow's grasp. The dark hedgehog continued to hold Sonic against the wall by his arms.

"Making sure you don't interfere," Shadow said. "This is my mess to clean up, not yours."

"But I wanna help! You shouldn't have to do this alone!" Sonic argued, then grit his teeth and attempted to push Shadow off of him.

"I have to do this alone," Shadow said. "Only I caused this mess, so only I deserve to die fixing it."

"Wait, what? Shadow, no!" Sonic cried out. Suddenly, the two of them were teleported to another room in the ARK. Shadow pushed Sonic into an escape pod, then shot over to the control panel within a split second.

"This'll take you to earth, don't worry. This capsule is safe, it won't explode," Shadow assured Sonic.

"Shadow! You're crazy! Let me help you! You don't have to do this!" Sonic exclaimed desperately.

"I do. That cannon will fire in less than a few minutes," Shadow said. "The energy from the emeralds was taken before I removed them. The energy just needs to be channeled and converted. The cannon is charging as we speak. I need to destroy it before it fires."

"And kill yourself in the process?" Sonic remarked.

"Most likely," Shadow said.

"But, Shadow… I was upset when I thought you were dead," Sonic said solemnly. "I don't want to lose you again."

"But that's the way it has to be," Shadow said emotionlessly. "For Maria… and you."

Without warning, Shadow pulled the lever, and the capsule was released. Sonic plummeted towards the earth as Shadow teleported back to the eclipse cannon. He took in a deep, long breath, then closed his eyes and breathed out.

"This is it…" he said. "Chaos-"

He was cut off as the area began rumbling. Suddenly, the cannon began to glow, and it released all of its energy. Shadow gasped.

"Damn, I underestimated the time," Shadow said and looked down at the earth distraughtly. "I wasted it on that Faker."

He took in another sharp breath.

"Chaos Control!" he yelled, and time stood still.

He flew outside, to see the ominous green laser shooting towards the Earth, but stopped half way there. He turned around to see Sonic's capsule hurling towards space.

"Sayonara, Faker," Shadow said. He flew in front of the green laser, it was concentrated into a thin line, so Shadow was able to block it. Then he closed his eyes and smiled as he allowed time to continue.

Sonic felt his skin go white and his heart skip a beat as he saw the laser stream towards the earth, then a small glint in front of it, and it exploded half way between the ARK and the Earth.

"Sh-Shadow? What did he do?" Sonic said shakily. All was silent and safe once again. The eclipse cannon was still intact, and Shadow was nowhere to be seen. "You did it, Shadow… you sacrificed yourself again…" He fell to his knees and leant against the glass, feeling hopeless. The capsule passed through the atmosphere, then hit the ground, causing Sonic to black out.

The End.

**Author's Note:**

**That was just a quick, short story I wrote for now. But a new Sonadow story is on its way. **


End file.
